Steve King Releases Obamacare Informational Timeline

Highlighting the first day of the Supreme Court hearings on ObamaCare, Congressman Steve King (R-IA) made the following statement:

To mandate that everyone must buy a health insurance policy is a huge reach, and this is exactly the kind of government the Founding Father’s wanted to limit.  I don’t know how the Supreme Court could rationalize that this law is constitutional. We need to rip ObamaCare out by the roots, making it “as if such act had not been enacted.” That’s the repeal language I authored that passed the House last year. Since then, however, we’ve learned even more about ObamaCare’s unsustainable costs and its empty promises.

He posted a timeline on his on his website that lists all that we have discovered since the House passed Congressman King’s repeal language last year.  We’re providing the timeline here at Caffeinated Thoughts as well:

2011

January

• 1/26/11 New report from the CMS’s Chief Actuary says 5 million more people may enroll in Medicaid under ObamaCare than previously thought: http://bit.ly/hX4ZXy
• 1/27/11 Story reveals that ObamaCare money is going to bike paths and grocery stores in Illinois: http://bit.ly/hTteqg
• 1/31/11 Another judge declares ObamaCare’s individual mandate to be unconstitutional. This time, the entire law is struck down:http://bit.ly/hFJxvy
• 1/31/11 Politico reports that Aetna is dropping out of the individual market in Colorado: http://politi.co/gxfS4V.

February

• 2/4/11 ObamaCare regulators miss two more deadlines: http://politi.co/eteUI4
• 2/8/11 New poll from the Society for Human Resource Management shows human resource departments around the country are struggling to deal with ObamaCare: http://bit.ly/hfbbrQ
• 2/10/11 The Hill article shows that only 12,000 people have signed up for ObamaCare’s new high-risk insurance pools. These plight of individuals with pre-existing conditions was a main selling point for why ObamaCare supporters argued that we needed ObamaCare in the first place.: http://bit.ly/gJQWJO
• 2/14/11 HHS Fiscal Year 2012 budget asks for thousands of new bureaucrats to enforce ObamaCare: http://tinyurl.com/76moays
• 2/15/11 The Hill article reports that HHS wants to quadruple its public relations budget to promote ObamaCare: http://bit.ly/eTzmif
• 2/15/11 U.S. News and World Report writes that ObamaCare will require 1,054 new IRS auditors and staffers and new faculties at a cost of $359 million in Fiscal Year 2012: http://bit.ly/gRX3ig
• 2/16/11 The Obama Administration grants ObamaCare essential benefits waivers to Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee:http://nyti.ms/gieG24
• 2/17/11 New Centers for Disease Control study shows that Medicaid patients visit the emergency room nearly twice as much as the uninsured. ObamaCare throws more than 15 million more people onto Medicaid, which will further burden hospitals around the country: http://bit.ly/g5Q3og
• 2/19/11 The Hill releases a list of 79 organizations denied ObamaCare waivers: http://bit.ly/jXFqvU
• 2/23/11 More Democrats admit that Americans cannot keep their health care under ObamaCare: http://t.co/7aD5kLk
• 2/23/11 New Kaiser poll shows ObamaCare is still deeply unpopular: http://bit.ly/dYIKMe

March

• 3/01/11 New report shows that ObamaCare will increase Medicaid’s unfunded mandate to states by at least $118 billion: http://bit.ly/i2bJtL
• 3/06/11 New York Times article details further increases in premiums and more insurers dropping coverage: http://nyti.ms/hVBnJV
• 3/07/11 ObamaCare waivers reach the 1,000-level mark: http://bit.ly/hqmUmf
• 3/08/11 The Hill reports that Maine will be the first state to get a waiver for ObamaCare’s Medical Loss Ratio requirement: http://bit.ly/hxeaRX
• 3/12/11 Los Angeles Times reports that Blue Cross Blue Shield says the cumulative rate hikes under ObamaCare could reach 86.5%:http://lat.ms/hDzdel
• 3/12/11 Seattle Times reports that Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says ObamaCare will be a burden on small businesses: http://bit.ly/hnN6MT
• 3/14/11 National Journal reports on the impact of ObamaCare on Flexible Spending Account users: http://bit.ly/eNMprd
• 3/21/11 New Gallup poll shows that ObamaCare is even more unpopular than it was when it passed one year earlier: http://bit.ly/eVw1VV
• 3/22/11 MarketWatch reveals that big insurers are profiting big-time under ObamaCare, with their S&P value growing 16% since its passage: http://bit.ly/i6sid2
• 3/23/11 New CNN poll shows ObamaCare is just as unpopular as it was when it passed, with 59% in opposition: http://bit.ly/i8YDnS
• 3/25/11 Wall Street Journal reports the HHS is spending $3.5 million in false ObamaCare propaganda: http://on.wsj.com/dWVhwz
• 3/27/11 The Washington Post reports on the “messy” process that has resulted in over 1,000 ObamaCare waivers: http://wapo.st/h3NJCc
• 3/29/11 The Hill reports that an ObamaCare official says it would be a “great thing” for employers to “dump” their workers on to ObamaCare exchanges: http://t.co/XWxlMhd
• 3/29/11 Political analysis indicates that ObamaCare was “the costliest vote” for Democrats in the previous Congress and the major reason why Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in 2010: http://bit.ly/gh9WjG
• 3/30/11 Report indicates that AARP, a strong supporter of ObamaCare, could stand to make more than $1 billion from the law: http://1.usa.gov/erCzDf

April

• 4/1/11 Politico reports that one of ObamaCare’s most “popular” and costly programs is already going broke: http://politi.co/e4GLI6
• 4/2/11 CMS reveals that nearly 3 million Americans are now exempted from ObamaCare rules: http://bit.ly/hqmUmf
• 4/5/11 New RAND study reveals the major burden that ObamaCare’s unfunded mandates will have on states: http://bit.ly/fbnIhj
• 4/7/11 Politico reports that ObamaCare implementation would continue to move forward even in the case of a government shutdown because of the automatic, autopilot appropriations contained within the law: http://politi.co/dOB156
• 4/13/11 New AP poll shows ObamaCare more unpopular than ever: http://tinyurl.com/7jdqtnd
• 4/20/11 AP reports that the Obama Administration may have used taxpayer dollars for political purposes by heading off ObamaCare’s Medicare Advantage cuts in an election year: http://tinyurl.com/7mrnh3v
• 4/25/11 Wall Street Journal op-ed outlines another way that ObamaCare will reduce incentives to work: http://on.wsj.com/flYkW6
• 4/25/11 Even Democrats now admitting in hindsight that obsession with passing ObamaCare distracted them from focusing on the economy: http://bit.ly/h8lt2N
• 4/31/11 HealthCare.gov shows that only 18,000 people have signed up for ObamaCare’s pre-existing conditions pool: http://1.usa.gov/jQp4IU

May

• 5/1/11 Wall Street Journal reports that small business do not find ObamaCare’s tax credits useful: http://on.wsj.com/ixVdyu
• 5/2/11 New York Times admits that ObamaCare greatly hinders state efforts to get their budgets in order: http://nyti.ms/lemJvg
• 5/2/11 The Oregonian reports that health insurance premiums are spiking yet again in Oregon: http://bit.ly/j5Jx9u
• 5/13/11 The Hill reports that HHS approved 200 more ObamaCare waivers, bringing the total to 1,372:  http://bit.ly/lJcm2L
• 5/13/11 New York Times documents how ObamaCare will hurt nursing homes: http://nyti.ms/iePE5Q
• 5/17/11 Daily Caller reports that nearly 20% of recent ObamaCare waivers went to gourmet restaurants, nightclubs, and fancy hotels in Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco district: http://bit.ly/iLDu8H
• 5/17/11 New York Times reports that emergency rooms, which are expected to provide much of the care for millions of more Medicaid patients under ObamaCare, are “closing at an alarming rate”:  http://nyti.ms/mtjS9F
• 5/18/11 PricewaterhouseCoopers poll shows that 84% of employers will make changes to their health plans to offset the costs of ObamaCare: http://bit.ly/iWKLuO
• 5/18/11 National Journal article reveals more ways in which ObamaCare mandates will lead to higher premiums:http://tinyurl.com/7dktmu9
• 5/19/11 The Hill reports that HHS Secretary Sebelius says giving ObamaCare waivers is “unfortunate,” but then defends why everyone should not get a waiver: http://bit.ly/kUXFFm
• 5/19/11 The Hill reports on HHS refusing to release the names of rejected waiver applicants for ObamaCare: http://bit.ly/jc8CQD
• 5/24/11 Daily Caller reports on how the Obama Administration failed to provide the required reports on the final HHS Medical Loss Ratio rules and regulations to the Senate: http://bit.ly/mdibyM
• 5/24/11 Even ObamaCare cheerleader Talking Points Memo calls ObamaCare’s IPAB “a gentle twist on government rationing” http://t.co/OD6wNYdi

June

• 6/6/11 McKinsey study shows how ObamaCare provides strong incentives for employers to drop their employees’ health plans and dump workers into ObamaCare’s exchanges: http://bit.ly/lk6HqV
• 6/6/11 Obama Administration says it’s easy to avoid the individual mandate penalty: Just earn less money!: http://bit.ly/lJTzxH
• 6/7/11 CNN Poll shows the vast majority of Americans oppose ObamaCare’s individual mandate: http://tinyurl.com/8y9d54q
• 6/8/11 ObamaCare cheerleader Talking Points Memo admits that Obama’s promise that you can keep your health care if you like it “was never completely true.”: http://bit.ly/kmb5K3
• 6/14/11 GAO report on ObamaCare waivers notes that HHS admitted premiums would go up under ObamaCare if implemented as written: http://t.co/1ltxOeA
• 6/14/11 Washington Post reports on state governors being concern about the significant costs ObamaCare will impose on states: http://t.co/JIHIStQ
• 6/16/11 Senator Ron Johnson and former CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin show that ObamaCare is likely to cost much, much more than originally projected: http://t.co/RvGSYIh
• 6/17/11 Gallup survey finds that nearly 10 million adults have lost their employer-provided coverage since Obama took office: http://t.co/UCrloGk
• 6/20/11 More ObamaCare waivers are issued, bringing the total to 1,231, 90% of which went to unions: http://t.co/2Gwwkhd
• 6/23/11 Wall Street Journal reports on White House bullying of groups issuing unfriendly ObamaCare studies: http://t.co/n7DK0Y6
• 6/26/11 New York Times survey shows that physicians are worried that ObamaCare will lead to serious access problems for consumers:http://t.co/0zy8c5e
• 6/26/11 Politico reports on the continued political backlash Democrats are under because of ObamaCare: http://t.co/R3Y2C1H
• 6/28/11 USA Today shows that the government is prosecuting fewer people for health care fraud, even though ObamaCare was supposed to boost fraud prevention efforts: http://t.co/bZYxdAk
• 6/30/11 The GAO reports on 47 different ways in which IRS tax collectors will be enforcing ObamaCare: http://t.co/eXdsGBF

July

• 7/3/11 Star Tribune survey of doctors indicates that doctors find ObamaCare’s heralded wellness visits and preventive care incentives “pretty worthless” and a “waste of time”: http://t.co/sJgqVG9
• 7/14/11 Kaiser Health News reports that CBO Director Doug Elmendorf suggests that ObamaCare’s delivery system changes won’t do anything to lower health care costs: http://t.co/MYKRAIZ
• 7/19/11 The Hill reports that contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients coverage likely to be mandated to be free under ObamaCare’s preventative care provisions: http://t.co/b0QgWud
• 7/19/11 HHS admits its rule for “free” preventative care will cause premiums to increase 1.5%: http://tinyurl.com/7vufrd7
• 7/20/11 Home Depot Co-Founder says ObamaCare is choking recovery, blocking job creation, and will lead to over 150,000 pages of burdensome regulations on businesses: http://t.co/7ktHL5J
• 7/21/11 The Hill reports that ObamaCare is likely to leave families with high insurance costs: http://t.co/h8tG3jE
• 7/25/11 Daily Caller reports on ObamaCare supporter AARP’s financial interest in the law: http://t.co/r3bAgdI
• 7/27/11 Milliman Research Report indicates that over 2 million middle class individuals will become Medicaid-eligible due to ObamaCare glitch: http://t.co/ETe6PZV
• 7/28/11 Huffington Post reports on individuals voluntarily dropping their health insurance to make themselves eligible for taxpayer funded ObamaCare program: http://t.co/m8isc7I

August

• 8/1/11 Mercer study shows that only 15% of employers believe their costs won’t increase under ObamaCare’s new rules: http://t.co/IqDXLJl
• 8/2/11 Report details how ObamaCare’s pre-existing conditions regulations for children are causing health insurance carriers to stop selling child-only health plans, which are now non-existent in 17 states: http://tinyurl.com/7kesdqm
• 8/4/11 HCTrends survey shows that health insurance premiums are continuing to rise and suggests they are unlikely to slow soon:http://t.co/tQ2hR9C
• 8/11/11 WebMD article points out the unintended consequences of ObamaCare, as children are losing health coverage altogether because of its “child-friendly” regulations: http://t.co/yU2J1on
• 8/12/11 Yet another court rules ObamaCare unconstitutional: http://t.co/ZxDT7WS
• 8/18/11 Over a year after the passage of ObamaCare, Obama talks about how he’s willing to address some of the long-term costs of health care…in the future: http://t.co/zjfZIqK
• 8/18/11 National Business Group on Health survey shows that employers are shifting their rising health insurance costs to their workers: http://t.co/HkiqadU
• 8/19/11 HHS grants 106 new ObamaCare waivers, bringing the total to 1,472: http://t.co/MikQ920
• 8/19/11 Judicial Watch uncovers more documents revealing extensive HHS propaganda campaign to promote the popularity of ObamaCare:http://t.co/8Q02RWn
• 8/21/11 New York Times article describes how ObamaCare may prompt a new wave of mergers and consolidations, which could reduce competition and lead to higher costs: http://t.co/9m4lRiP
• 8/23/11 The Examiner reports that ObamaCare’s dining menu regulations are eating into food industry profits: http://t.co/xV3Hrsf

September

• 9/7/11 New report shows how ObamaCare’s new excise tax on the medical device industry is hurting jobs: http://t.co/49ACPuf
• 9/7/11 Investor’s Business Daily reports that the text of ObamaCare doesn’t allow for subsidies for the federal exchanges, yet the Obama Administration moves forward with them anyway: http://t.co/JuEvAzI
• 9/8/11 Altarum Institute shows that health spending is at an all-time high: http://t.co/PQmCT8l
• 9/11/11 Washington Post reports that ObamaCare is not popular among state governments, and that state implementation has been lagging: http://t.co/f0M4QtF
• 9/17/11 White House report shows that the hours Americans spend filling out HHS forms is growing at a rapid pace: http://t.co/628Wwt59

October

• 10/2/11 NPR reports that rising health costs are leading companies to drop part-time benefits: http://t.co/5drlAQ1p
• 10/6/11 Study shows that health reform will punish the very hospitals that are already struggling to provide health care to poor patients:http://tinyurl.com/82b9oeu
• 10/13/11 Bloomberg reports that ObamaCare’s tanning tax is raising much less revenue than projected – raising questions about ObamaCare’s other efforts to raise revenue, and proving that when you tax something, you get less of it: http://t.co/G6MqMK7j
• 10/18/11 Stateline article suggests that nearly all state prisoners may be eligible for taxpayer subsidized Medicaid coverage under ObamaCare: http://t.co/m8TKmQn8
• 10/18/11 A panel, similar to the one that suggested all contraceptives should be free, recommends less cancer screenings: http://t.co/X49io5hV
• 10/20/11 New Accountable Care Organization (ACO) regulation is 696 pages long and puts ObamaCare regulations at over 10,000 pages:http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/751868
• 10/21/11 Kaiser column likens ObamaCare’s ACOs  to HMO boondoggles: http://t.co/1UlsX9Fa
• 10/24/11 Survey finds that in liberal Massachusetts, where people have experience with ObamaCare-like health insurance rules, only 12% think ObamaCare will actually lower health costs: http://t.co/agEnT29O
• 10/24/11 Gallup survey of small business owners shows that complying with government regulations is their number one concern:http://t.co/EbzHnkCC
• 10/27/11 Report details how ObamaCare’s tax credits contain a marriage penalty: http://t.co/eoroAVAK
• 10/27/11 The Hill reports that Florida health insurers, citing ObamaCare regulations, are leaving the marketplace: http://t.co/BaH61oH2
• 10/31/11 Washington Post reports how ObamaCare’s increased state mandates are crowding out other state priorities, such as higher education: http://t.co/wOW8e6R0

November

• 11/3/11 Oliver Wyman study suggests premiums will increase due to ObamaCare: http://t.co/Zoez1E4d
• 11/5/11 Bloomberg story shows why employers aren’t buying ObamaCare’s convoluted business tax credits: http://t.co/Vlb2xUx2
• 11/6/11 Politico reports that Nancy Pelosi’s health care spokesman, who worked with her to pass ObamaCare, is now working for an outside group that opposes ObamaCare: http://t.co/gXL0tqjB
• 11/7/11 IRS study shows that fewer small business than expected are claiming ObamaCare’s small business tax credits: http://t.co/klivwOUl
• 11/8/11 Ohio voters pass an amendment to outlaw ObamaCare mandate by a wide margin, even as the same voters pass a pro-union referendum: http://tinyurl.com/7te29kh
• 11/9/11 Study shows that ObamaCare’s health insurance premium tax alone will cost up to 250,000 jobs: http://t.co/5GZ0r3rM
• 11/10/11 Michigan company lays off workers in preparation for ObamaCare’s medical device tax: http://t.co/C4LEuBsv
• 11/16/11 Gallup poll shows Americans still favor full repeal of ObamaCare: http://t.co/cSlSPB7G
• 11/16/11 National Institute for Health Care Management paper suggests that ObamaCare will lead to higher health care market concentration, resulting in higher costs: http://t.co/cfd1ZuFB
• 11/16/11 Alabama hospital raises fees, cites ObamaCare: http://t.co/MvMdJsN4
• 11/17/11 Senate Democrats admit that ObamaCare may have unintended negative consequences for farmers: http://t.co/HrdYaQoq
• 11/22/11 Former Senator Blanche Lincoln, who voted for ObamaCare, blasts the bill for creating thousands of new pages of regulations http://t.co/xUdPJrfb
• 11/25/11 Boston Globe reports that Obama always had Donald Berwick in mind to implement ObamaCare, but held off nominating him for political reasons until he could get the bill pushed through: http://t.co/IH3myJqi
• 11/28/11 Huffington Post reports that ObamaCare is straining state budgets and forcing them to cut back on other priorities, like education:http://t.co/aYYoqUtl
• 11/29/11 Bloomberg reports that PhRMA CEO Billy Tauzin was paid $11.6 million during the year that he made his back-room deal with the White House leading up to ObamaCare: http://t.co/XK5cPg0C

December

• 12/2/11 HHS forces insurers to tout the benefits of ObamaCare: http://t.co/m4jy6YKM
• 12/7/11 Stateline reports that ObamaCare will give the children of state employees taxpayer funded insurance, in another apparent giveaway to public employees: http://t.co/iWkmbShz
• 12/08/11 International study ranks the United States’ health care system the best in the world: http://t.co/aIiN7rOX
• 12/09/11 The Hill reports that, after less than two years, a $5 billion ObamaCare program is already out of money: http://t.co/qNELURho
• 12/28/11 Secretary Sebelius touts “free” preventative services, even though her own regulation admits that it will cause costs to increase 1.5%:http://t.co/FiVkZi0v

2012

January

• 1/5/12 California Health Care Foundation survey of employers shows ObamaCare’s business tax credit is ineffective, and that the law itself is leading to dropped coverage, higher premiums, and higher costs: http://t.co/cgoK4EOr
• 1/6/12 Daily Caller reports that labor unions consistently received the overwhelming majority of ObamaCare waivers: http://tinyurl.com/7aorhxd
• 1/11/12 New York Post reports that NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg may try to use ObamaCare funding to limit alcohol sales: http://t.co/TCkifbLl
• 1/12/12 Billing Gazette shows consumers gaming Montana’s high-risk pools, causing them to run out of money way faster than expected: http://t.co/vRe6HS2f
• 1/13/12 Letter sent to HHS asking if they issued their essential health benefits rule as a “bulletin” instead of going through the formal rulemaking process in order to avoid having to admit to an embarrassing cost estimate: http://tinyurl.com/74pxnx7
• 1/18/12 U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that 74% of small businesses say ObamaCare is making it harder to hire new workers: http://t.co/pDjVZse3
• 1/23/12 Even the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart is skeptical of ObamaCare: http://tinyurl.com/6nucxdw
• 1/24/12 Obama devotes two sentences to ObamaCare in his State of the Union speech: http://tinyurl.com/7ak8cl6
• 1/26/12 New Kaiser poll shows that only 37% of Americans approve of ObamaCare: http://t.co/pzJJ7QAX

February

• 2/6/12 Washington Post column details how ObamaCare’s contraception mandate will hurt the poor: http://t.co/S7XPpWDf
• 2/10/12 The Hill reports that ObamaCare’s contraception mandate could cause increased insurance costs for everyone: http://t.co/ygbTCV9H
• 2/11/12 Daily Caller reports that ObamaCare architect Jonathan Gruber predicts that the law will lead to higher premiums: http://t.co/nIhLlfjr
• 2/13/12 Obama’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget calls for a 26% increase in CMS funding to implement ObamaCare: http://t.co/cm6Xjen0
• 2/13/12 Politico reports that despite buying down premiums and easing eligibility requirements, HHS is finding it difficult to find enrollees for ObamaCare’s high-risk insurance program: http://t.co/wOmVzqYM
• 2/14/12 Washington Post reports that HHS has already used up nearly all of ObamaCare’s billion dollar implementation fund, and is now asking for more: http://t.co/eiNPNtFk
• 2/15/12 Obama’s active OMB Director Jeffrey Zients says ObamaCare’s individual mandate is not a tax, even though the administration is arguing that it is in front of the Supreme Court: http://t.co/1UbyduuT
• 2/17/12 National Journal reports that hospital mergers, spurred on by ObamaCare, could lead to a 40% increase in health care costshttp://t.co/mgWzUGR5
• 2/23/12 Daily Caller reports that unions are the largest recipient of ObamaCare’s mini-public options loans, even though they are not even eligible under the law http://tinyurl.com/7gvozcm
• 2/23/12 Washington Post reports that the costs in ObamaCare’s high risk pools are twice what was expected: http://tinyurl.com/7euc2v2
• 2/24/12 HHS bulletin says only employer contributions to HSAs will count towards the minimum actuarial value requirements, meaning if you currently contribute to your own HSA, your insurance will probably be disqualified under ObamaCare: http://tinyurl.com/7mphvyr
• 2/27/12 Gallup poll shows 72% of Americans think the individual mandate is unconstitutional: http://tinyurl.com/7bd9htc
• 2/27/12 Obama tells the national Governor’s Association that state education cuts are too big, even though ObamaCare is largely responsible for crowding out state education spending: http://tinyurl.com/8yl59mx
• 2/27/12 Cardinal says Catholic charities might be forced to close because of ObamaCare’s contraceptive mandate: http://tinyurl.com/7oz3j6l

March

• 3/1/12 Gallup poll says the outcome of ObamaCare is an “extremely or very important” political issue for three out of every four Americans:http://tinyurl.com/73z967g
• 3/8/12 The Hill: Study finds ObamaCare was responsible for costing Democrats 5.8 points and 20 House seats in the 2010 elections:  http://t.co/H020eJNI
• 3/12/12 HHS releases 644 page ObamaCare exchange regulations:  http://t.co/Hw7f7dsA
• 3/12/12 Avalere report indicates that ObamaCare will put Medicare Advantage at risk: http://t.co/Lm93LKm3
• 3/13/12 CBO projects that under ObamaCare, premiums will be higher, and more employers will drop coverage than in previous estimates:http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43079
• 3/13/12 CBO confirms that the two most costly ObamaCare provisions will cost nearly double what was in the original estimate:http://tinyurl.com/7mt98uy
• 3/19/12 Washington Post shows that the majority of Americans still oppose ObamaCare and a vast majority want the Supreme Court to strike down the individual mandate:  http://t.co/tCjof4SR
• 3/21/12 The Hill reports that President Obama will avoid talking about ObamaCare during its 2-year anniversary or during the Supreme Court review:  http://t.co/656M0mR8
• 3/23/12 ObamaCare’s two year anniversary: http://tinyurl.com/728qwn8